


The Black Canary's Last Cry.

by IAmMattis



Series: Black Wolf Verse [12]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate S4, Alternate Universe, Better Than Canon, F/M, Gen, Major - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28800819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmMattis/pseuds/IAmMattis
Summary: This is kinda a re tell of the side plot in my main story White Wolf.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Laurel Lance, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sara Lance, Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen
Series: Black Wolf Verse [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1319207
Comments: 20
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bl4ckHunter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bl4ckHunter/gifts).



> I don't the rights to DC characters or the CW show. They belong to their rightful owners.

**May 29 2016**

**Star City**

**"I'm sorry baby. For everything. But remember that I will always love you."**

After the video ended, a dark haired man put his phone back into his coat pocket and stared at the tombstone that had the name of the late Police Captain Quentin Lance ingrained on it. All of this happened while he was gone trying to save the world from it's grim future caused by a immortal mad man. He should've stayed here and helped Team Arrow in the fight against Darhk.

He glanced at Laurel staring at her father's grave with a solemn look and turned grasped her hand with his metal one, intertwining his fingers with hers comforting her as best as he could. "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner, doll."

Laurel inhaled through her nose. "Don't be, Buck. You had enough on your plate." 

-

It was glum afternoon in Star City. Bucky and Laurel were sitting against a tree on a rise that overlooked the cemetery. She's leaning into Bucky with his arms wrapped around her, keeping her warm and close. It was nice.

"How was the funeral?" he asked his doll gently, the D.A. sighed thinking about how difficult it was for her in the week that followed after his death.

"Brutal." She answered, no point of sugar coating of what transpired. "John took it hard, considering the fact that he trusted Andy over Oliver and my father is dead because of it."

"You?"

Laurel sighed leaning into him more as she intertwined her fingers with his once more. It made her feel a bit at ease. "I don't know. I still feel that I should've done more. I should've known that Darhk would have punish my father for betraying him. But I can't help but think that maybe it was the price I had to pay of bringing Sara back to life."

"Laurel, you couldn't have known."

"I could've." She admitted. She looked up to Bucky. "I'm glad you're here. I really am."

Bucky smiled while pressing a kiss onto the top of the head. "It's the least I could do for you doll."

**March 2016**

**Star City Courthouse.**

**Star City.**

_Laurel was washing her hands off in the public bathroom. Things were not looking good at the moment right now in court. Thea and Diggle's testimonies were dismissed and thrown off the court before Judge Balderrama called for a recess setting an another trial date in three days. So she began internally analyzing her limited options._

_A: Stand down and see Damien walk out as a free man due to the lack of physical evidence._   
_B: Find someone who knows the details of Darhk's criminal operation and has nothing to lose._   
_C: Find someone who has everything to lose._

_She began narrowing down, A was definitely out of option. B was practically impossible since every ghost had committed suicide before they could even talk. So it all came down to C. There was one person that could do that but the difficult part is to convince him knowing that he'll have a target on his back. But she had to try._

_-_

_Quentin was drinking a glass of water in his apartment glumly. To say that he was not happy with how the trial's going, would be putting it mildly. He was pissed and at this rate, it's looking like Damien dark might be acquitted by Sunday. Damn._

_His thoughts were interrupted as his cellphone ringed. It was Laurel. She better had a pretty good idea._

_-_

**March 2016**

**Star City**

**D.A's Office.**

_"Wow, that's.. Unbelievable." Remz uttered his amazement after Quentin Lance finished narrating his story of his involvement with Damien Darhk: How it started, how he played his part in Darhk's criminal operations, the crippling of the city council, the cover up of the crimes that was committed by Ghosts, everything from murder, bank robbery, larceny: The whole nine yards. Laurel was sitting next to her father across the acting D.A. of Star City._

_She contacted her father and asked him for his help and surprisingly he agreed to it. His reason was that when he became a cop, he made a promise to himself that if he ever crossed the line between an officer and criminal, he'd be no better than the those he's sworn to protect the city from._

_"Believe it, Remz." Laurel stated, a confident look on her face._

_"I'll tell Judge Balderrama right away about this. This will be a huge turning point in the trial this Sunday" Remz said._

_Laurel smiled, pleased of his answer. "Perfect. My offer is pretty straight forward. Captain Lance's testimony in exchange for full immunity."_

_"Your father just confessed to being an accessory in how many crimes?" He asked his Assistant D.A. incredulously, not believing what he just heard while rising up from his chair._

_"Cases that you would never make in a million years without my client's testimony." Laurel argued, getting off her chair as well while her father remained seated._

_"Normally that would be true if it was just corruption, but Captain Lance is a law enforcement officer." Nemz gestured to the elder Lance who was unusually quiet but there was a guilty expression on his face. "That looked the other way while a City representative was murdered right in front of him and he didn't say a damn word about it."_

_"He couldn't because my life was threatened and if he did, he would've been charged with first degree murder." She said, making her point across. "Can you say the same if roles were reversed and you were blackmailed, having no choice but follow every order or else you would be sentenced to life for a crime you didn't commit?"_

_Nemz had no answer to that._

_Laurel sat back on her seat."If you don't accept the terms, we'll walk out of your office right now and the deal expires. What's gonna be?"_

_Nemz thought long and hard about this. "Six years. On each count. But that's it."_

_Laurel was about to make an protest when her father cut her off. He overheard pretty much anything and as much he appreciated Laurel standing up for him, D.A Nemz was. He'd watched Marc Guggenheim getting murdered in front of his own his eyes and couldn't do a damn thing about it. "He's right, Laurel. I did the crime."_

_"Dad."_

_"It's ok, baby." Quentin reassured his oldest before gazing back to Nemz. "I'll take the deal."_

_"Then it's settled."_

_-_

_**Star City Courthouse.** _

_**Sunday** _

_Sunday couldn't have arrived any faster as Damien Darhk who was the defendant glowered with burning hatred and Captain Lance was on witness stand in the courtroom._

_Before the trial had begun, he had some doubts of whether or not he was doing the right thing because he could lose his badge for what he was about to confess on the stand but seeing the look of assurance from his oldest daughter, he knew that it was right thing anyway._

_"Captain Quentin Larry Lance, Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, under pains and penalties of perjury?"_

_There was no hesitation in his voice as Quentin replied to the bailiff. "I do."_

_-_

**_30 minutes later_ **

_The Trial had reached a recess 5 minutes ago as both the Lances were in the break room, emotionally drained from the details she had to hear from her father on the stand._

_"How you're feeling Dad?" Laurel asked her father._

_"Well considering that I'm about to spend six years in prison, I feel good actually. Who knows, maybe if i'm lucky, i'll probably sit next to Darhk. " Quentin chuckled, Laurel shook her head with a ghost of smile._

_"For what's worth, Dad you were very convincing on the stand and hopefully after the trial is over, you'll be sent to a low security prison where you'll probably be out in three years, as long as you don't get into trouble."_

_"Well that's reassuring." Quentin muttered as_ _Oliver entered the break room._

_"Oliver. What is it?" Laurel inquired seeing a grim expression on his face._

_"I want to show something to you." Oliver said and judging by the tone in his voice, it cannot be good._

_Curiosity_ _peaked, Laurel walked over to her ex boyfriend to see what was important as Oliver played a track on his cellphone from a bug he'd planted in the courtroom just in case something went wrong their way and it was as she listening a woman speak that made the Assistant DA freeze in horror._

**_"Michael Young, 789 West 144th Street._ _Victor Grayson, 612 East 78th Street."_**

_" **What the hell? That's my address."** A young male juror uttered in fear._

_**"Joy Smith, 707 Lovell Ave."** The female juror continued speaking **"**_ **_I'm sorry, they made me memorize them."_ **

_"Oh no, no, no no." Laurel muttered, all the hard work that she and the others had put on into capturing Darhk, had seemingly gone down the drain._

_"Laurel what's wrong?" Quentin asked concerned._

_With a sharp exhale Laurel turned to her father with a angered look. "It's the jurors. Darhk got to them." Laurel revealed, Quentin paled in dread of what that meant._

**_Star City Courthouse_ **

_Laurel grimaced as she listened her father puking the contents out into one of the toilets at the restroom at the courthouse. Thanks to Darhk's threat to the jurors, the jury had decided to not convict Damien Darhk and Judge Balderrama had no other choice but dismiss the case completely due to the lack of substantial evidence and Damien Darhk walked out of the courtroom a free man._

_Quentin stumbled out of the stall looking a little green as he went to wash his hands and face. "Darhk is unstoppable. I'll never be safe as long as he's around." He said, completely deflated and that was unusual for him._

_"Don't talk like that, Dad." Laurel tried to reassure her father but even she had her own doubts that were put aside to ease her father's fears._

_But then an all too familiar voice spoke up behind them making the Lance's blood run cold. Damien Darhk._

_"You should listen to your father, Ms. Lance. After all, I'm a man that does not take betrayals lightly."_

_Both Quentin and Laurel were hit by tranquilizer darts and they passed out before they even had a chance to call Team Arrow for help._

_-_

_**Unknown Location.** _

_Quentin began to stir from tranquilizer dart as he regained his consciousness. He saw Laurel in a similar position as he was. they were in some grey room with a roof lamp shining on him, highlighting the grim situation they were in now._

_"Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." Damien Darhk recited F Scott Fitzgerald entering the room through the only door, greeting SCPD Captain as an old friend. "A quote that has never been more befitting in this situation." He laughed sinisterly sending shivers down Quentin's spine._

_Laurel let out a groan as she woke up. Blinking her eyes to regain eyesight, she shrunk back in scare when she saw Damien Darhk in all it's glory. Black suit, the gleeful smile, the intimating posture. She was in trouble, big time._

_"Ah, Ms. Lance. Welcome back to the living." Damien addressed the Assistant D.A jovially. "I hope my associates hadn't been too rough on you." He chuckled manically._

_"What do you want?" Laurel sneered glaring resentfully. Damien went into deep thought about that, although he had a good idea why. He was just toying with them._

_"Well that is a good question, Ms. Lance or should I say Black Canary?" The Lance's eyes went wide as saucers when they heard that. How did he know? Her father never told him about how she spends her nights. "You look surprised. How did I figure it out your secret Identity when Daddy dearest didn't tell me? " Damien gestured to the stunned Police Captain who was rendered speechless. "Well, he didn't have to. It was just a series of events I put together as pieces of a puzzle. Get my drift? Pity." He sighed seeing the blank stares still hung up on how did he know about her alter ego._

_Damien began explaining to them of how he connected the dots walking. "It's pretty simple. Oliver Queen showed up as Tom Hanks lookalike after five years on his Cast Away adventures. A week later, the reports of the Arrow appeared who was operating in Star City for three years until he was exposed by Bane following his kidnapping of your father as Roy Harper who I doubt was the real Arrow. He looked too skinny and small. John Diggle who was the bodyguard of Oliver Queen is Spartan. It was pretty obvious, based on that hideous helmet of his. Speedy, lousy name by the way is Oliver Queen's sister Thea which brings me to her brother being the real Arrow. And of course you are the Black Canary who emerged after your little trip to Asia, last year in January." He told them. "And of course six months after the Outbreak, Green Arrow showed up right around the time Oliver Queen returned to Star City. But what made me really put the final dot about him as the Emerald Archer was when he rescued that boy William. That look on his face. It was a father's look. I should've recognized it there and then."_

_Once he was finished, he was left with looks of horror from both Quentin and Laurel of how he smoothly deduced Laurel and other's secret identities._

_"And now we get to the fun part." Damien Darhk declared, pulling out a gun. He's been wanting to do this for quite some time since his arrest. "Ms.Lance, nine months ago I made your Daddy a promise. I warned him of what I would do if he were to betray me." He recalled._

_Remembering the blood vow, Quentin shook his head vehemently. No, no, no. "No please! Don't! Kill me but not her! Take me!" Quentin begged to him but it seemed to fall on deaf ears._

_"Dad, no!" Laurel protested._

_"Oh I will get to you in a second, Captain." Darhk sneered to the SCPD Captain. "But first, I wanted to let you know this, Ms. Lance." He aimed his gun at her point blank at the chest. "That I am a man of my word."_

_Bang!_

_Laurel closed her eyes in fear as Damien Darhk pulled the trigger. A few seconds had passed before opening her eyes to see why the bullet hadn't gone through her only to wish that she hadn't as she saw her father lying on the ground with a bullet wound through his chest. He took the bullet for her._

_"DAD!!!! NO!!" She screamed in horror as she rushed over to him shaking his unmoving body to wake him up but it didn't work. He died protecting her and it was on her. It was all her fault. If she hadn't made that call, he'd still be alive._

_Damien took a few steps back in near shock. He did not expect that outcome. Damien took a few steps back in near shock. He did not expect that outcome. He then sighed in vexation. "Well that was unexpected. No matter. I'll still kill you."_

_By the grace of her life, A ghost burst through the door halting Laurel's execution. "Mr. Darhk. We have a situation."_   
  
_Damien Darhk snarled hearing the commotion above, proving the ghost's report. "Seems that you've earned an reprieve, Ms. Lance. I'll be seeing you soon." He put away the gun and left the room, leaving the grieving daughter to mourn for the loss of her father._

_-_

**_March 28._**

**2 hours later.**

_"Another decent cop dead in this damn city." Frank thought to himself as he saw the coroner sealing the body bag that contained Quentin Lance on a stretcher as it was being loaded into the van. Two hours ago, a distraught Laurel Lance called 911 and reported murder of her father after the Green Arrow appeared preventing . Soon after the call had ended, the SCPD arrived at the scene and found Laurel cradling her late father's body with tears streaming down her cheeks._

_"He played us like a damn fiddle, Frank. " Sgt Evans said, Pike huffed._

_"He did. Damien Darhk knew he was going to be caught. He knew that Quentin would be his daughter's star witness."_

_-_

**_Arrowcave_ **

**_"It is with deep sorrow and regret that I am here to inform you that last night at 11:30 PM, Star City Police Captain Quentin Lance was found murdered outside of the Glades following the kidnapping of Captain Lance himself and his daughter, the assistant district attorney Laurel Lance. The assailant who shot Captain Lance has been identified as Damien Dark who has been alleged to lead the Ghost. Mr. Darhk is on the run and is considered to be armed and extremely dangerous."_ **

_There was a solemn silence at the Arrowcave just two hours after the announcement of Quentin's death at the hands of Damien Darhk. Oliver, Thea, Felicity and John were very quiet, unsure of what to do now._

_Oliver decided then to leave the Bunker as he grabbed his jacket from the chair and headed to the elevator._

_"Oliver, please..." Felicity began her plead only for her ex boyfriend to whirl back at her exploding at her in anger._

_"No! We tried it your way!" Oliver snapped before turning back on her and walked out, leaving the others staring at him in silence as Felicity slumped in defeat._

-

**AN: comment kudos and bookmark.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Quentin's death.

_Laurel was sitting on the hospital bed, staring at the wall with a blank stare the following day in her room at Starling General. The tears had stopped but the sorrow in her eyes hadn't faded away. Why? Why is she the one who has to suffer the tragedies? Tommy, Sara and now her father. Even though she hadn't suffered any physical injuries, she was still being evaluated for trauma. As if she hadn't enough of it already._

_"That's the thing about dark Magic, Laurel. There's always consequences. Always."_

_The words of Oliver scolding her for her irresponsible actions rang through her head when he found out about Sara's resurrection. Looking back, she was too prideful to heave his words about the consequences of her actions, thinking that she could have the cake and eat it too. But she was wrong. Dead wrong._

_"Ma'am. You ok?" A nurse had stopped by her room and went to check on Laurel with concern._

_"No." Laurel mumbled, barley audible._

_"What happened to you?" The nurse asked._

_"Life."_

-

**Two days later.**

**The Bunker.**

"He knows."

Oliver looked up to see Laurel out of the hospital standing at the elevator entrance to the bunker with a perplexed. He was a bit caught off guard by seeing her considering the circumstances but he wasn't too surprised to see her back. "Knows what?"

Laurel took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell. "Damien Darhk knows you're the Green Arrow, Ollie."

Of all the things he'd expected her to say, this was not one of them. So the obvious question was..."How?" He inquired.

Laurel shrugged. "He had suspicions for some time apparently but the night where we rescued William, was when he had it all figured out." 

And in that moment, Oliver hated himself for allowing his emotions to expose his true identity. But what could he do? It was his son. But then again, given vast resources, it was only a matter of time he supposed. "Tell everyone that he knows who we really are because I'm afraid he's up to something big and it won't be pretty." Laurel told him and then left the bunker.

-

**A week Later.**

For the past week she's been in complete denial of her father's death. She hasn't answered anyone's calls from Felicity, Oliver, John or Thea for that matter. She was gonna bring her father back from the dead one way or another.

Laurel wished Bucky was here with her to comfort her. In fact he was the one who convinced her to tell her father about Sara's death a year and half ago right away instead of keeping it a secret from him. Sure her father cried and grieved for losing Sara again but at least he heard it from her and not from anybody else. Unfortunately though thanks to Bane who was a member of the League forced Captain Lance during his captivity to remove the mask of the Arrow revealing to be Roy Harper who had taken Oliver's place on Live TV forcing him on the run. He felt so guilt ridden of what he's done which was why Damien Darhk was able to get his cooperation so easily. 

"Did you really believe that you would not suffer the consequences of your reckless decision, Safarat al'iindhar?" (The Siren)

Freezing in horror she slowly turned around to see him. The Demons Head. But he can't be here.

"Ra's Al Ghul." Laurel breathed.

"I told Ah Sahm I was immortal." Ras said.

"I watched you die." She remembered seeing him get killed by Oliver on the empty road during the Outbreak.

"Oh There are many forms of immortality." Ras replied. "Nyssa warned you. You cannot disrupt the fragile balance between life and death. You have played with forces beyond your comprehension and your father has paid the very high price. You cannot save him."

Shaking her head vigorously, Laurel wasn't gonna accept it. "No! There has to be a way to bring him back! With everything I've seen, there has to be!"

Ras chuckled. "I admire your passion, Safarat al'iindhar. But I fear that his time had come to a rather untimely end." (The Siren)

Laurel didn't like that as Ras took another step. His words cut through her like a hot butter knife. "And speaking of time, for the past decade, you have fought the decadence of Star City. Despite all your strength, all your moral authority, the only victory that you ever achieved was a lie."

"No." Laurel said not wanting to hear his harsh words, although it was nothing but the truth.

"Now you understand. Why Star City is beyond saving along with your Father."

"No." Laurel whimpered, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Why it must be allowed to die!"

_"NOOO!!!"_

_-  
April 4 2016 _

_Oliver took a deep breath before knocking on the door of Laurel's apartment. It's been over a week since Quentin was killed and Team Arrow tried to call Laurel individually but they could only reach to her voicemail so Oliver decided to take matters into his own hands._

_The door opened and Laurel was standing in front of him with a backpack in hand. He sighed in resignation, having a idea of where she was going to and it was not Bahamas. She was going to find another Lazarus pit to bring her father back._

_"Get out of my way." Laurel said not in the mood for any argument._

_Oliver shook his head slowly. He won't allow her for her own sake. "No."_

_"I won't ask you again." Laurel snarled lowly but Oliver remained firm in his stand._

_"No."_

_Laurel huffed before throwing the backpack away, turning her back on him. "Who sent you? Was it Thea? John? Or Felicity?"_

_"I came here by my own accord." Oliver replied, Laurel scoffed, not believing him. "And I also want you to know that I understand what you're going through right now."_

_His sincere words seemed to fell on deaf ears as Laurel picked up the backpack that was a few feet away from them and walked past him."No you don't. You didn't have a father who gave up his life to save you so you're in no position to tell me that."_

_Laurel was wrong on that one. He of all people had been in her position before. "Yes he did." He admitted, causing her to freeze at the doorstep with a surprised look._

_"What I told everyone about what happened nine years ago... that was a lie." Oliver confessed, he walked to her cautiously as Laurel turned around to face him. It was never easy to tell the graphic details of what really happened, even now but he felt it was necessary to make her understand. "After the Gambit went down, Dad and I both made it to the life raft with a bodyguard named Dave Hackett. We drifted for days. When my father realized that there was only enough food and water for one person, he pulled out a revolver and shot Hackett first and then he pulled the gun on himself. Laurel, I understand what you're trying to do, really I do but it's not gonna work. Your father is dead."_

_She shook her head in dismay, trying to push the harsh truth out of her mind. "No. He's not. He's not. He's gone." When she said it out loud, she froze in shock. It was as if she realized what she had just uttered. "He's gone."_

_Then the floodgates had been opened as Laurel crumbled to her knees, crying her eyes out as Oliver embraced her in an emotional hug. Her gutwrenching sobs echoed through the apartment into hallway as her mind accepted the reality. Quentin Larry Lance was dead._

_-_

_April 27 2016_

**April 27 2016**

**Star City.**

_Wearing her black funeral dress, Laurel let out a stuttering breath as she was thinking about her father's upcoming funeral. It's never easy saying goodbye especially, when it comes to your family. Even though it's a part of life, it's pretty difficult to digest for anyone. It's a painful reminder that you're here on Earth for a short time. She heard the front door open and she didn't even look up to see Oliver entering her apartment wearing a black suit with a black tie fitting for a funeral._

_"I've spent almost 7 years studying pre-law and law, I know it like the palm of my hand. I've learned how to get out of cuffs, how to defend myself and yet I couldn't save my father." Laurel said as Oliver sat next to her on the couch noting that she was barley holding herself together while listening to her. "I've promised Sara that I would look after him before she left. How am I gonna be able to look in her eyes and tell her that I've failed?"_

_"Worry about that another day. " Oliver advised the Assistant D.A. Laurel turned to face him and he saw her eyes brimming with tears. "Just focus on getting through today."_

_"I just don't know what kind of person he wants me to be." Laurel confessed, fidgeting with her fingers. "It's gonna be hard without him."_

_"I know." Oliver took her hand with his and gave it a squeeze. "But If he was still here, he would've wanted you to be better than he was late in his life." Oliver then got up from the couch and headed to the door. He waited for her by the doorway. "It's time."_

_Laurel took a deep breath resolving herself as she rose from the couch and went with Queen Consolidated CEO closing the door behind her._

_-_

_It was a cloudy April day in Star City. The mood was despondent. Today Captain Quentin Lance was to laid to rest._

_Laurel entered St. Michael's with heavy heart as she began the painful walk to the altar where her father's casket were placed at the end. Everyone's eyes were on her making her aware that they were watching her. Her mother was in attendance. Even though they had been divorced for some time, she still cared about him._

_One she reached the altar, there laid the casket that had her father in it. She walked up the steps and stood in front of it, putting her hand on the casket, barley holding herself together. There was so much that she wanted to say but couldn't bring herself to do so. So she settled with a few sentences._

_"It's ok, Dad." She said as if she was reassuring him that she was gonna be fine. Both she and Sara._ _I'll look after Sara. I promise. You can rest now."_   
_Pressing a kiss to the lid, she let out a shaky breath before taking a seat next to Dinah as the leading priest walked up to the podium before those in attendance starting the proceedings.  
_

_"We are gathered here today..."_

**AN: Comment, kudos and bookmark for more updates.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leads and shocking revelations.

_**Star City** _

_**April 27 2016.** _

_Numbness. That was all Laurel could feel right now right after the funeral. Numb over the fact her father gave up his own life to save hers and the fact that it was Andy, John's own brother who tipped Damien Darhk off about the deal the SCPD captain made with the District attorney Nemz and blackmailed the jury into not convicting Darhk. How did she find out about this? Felicity caught him by using the CCTV cameras, he was seen outside the D.A.'s office making a phone call to Damien Darhk the day he agreed to testify. He's been a double agent. Diggle was pissed and rightfully so. He also felt immense guilt of that a police captain, a father died on his watch. Diggle wondered how the hell could he be so blind? Oliver reassured him that they all have blind spots when it comes to family. He knows it better than anyone._

_"You ok?" Oliver asked concered as he was standing by her right side._

_"Are you?" Laurel hissed, showing contempt towards the man who had a hand in her father's death. "I know what I'm gonna do now. I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch."_

_Oliver closed his eyes while letting out a big sigh of resignation. He figured that it would her reaction. Just as her reaction when Sara was killed last year in which she left Star City to travel to Asia to become Black Canary a year and half ago. And the truth was he was going to help her doing it. He tried to do the right way, but it didn't work. Damien Darhk proved to be too dangerous to live by escaping from SCPD and killed Quentin right in front of Laurel. He's gonna pay for what he's done._

_-_

_**Four days Later** _

_**Arrowcave** _

**_"Quentin Larry Lance, may you rest in peace."_ **

_Putting the half fingered boxing gloves on her hands in workout outfit, Laurel was about to take out her frustrations and anger on the heavy bag back in Arrowcave, two days after her father's funeral. All day she had listened to how sorry her father's were for her loss and sending their deepest condolences to her. But that all meant nothing to her._

_Despite the fact that Damien Darhk was the most wanted man in Star City at the moment, there were no current clues that indicated the location of Darhk which was frustrating for Team Arrow. But a day later, Frank called her telling her that the CSI team had found her father's cellphone in his apartment with a video message. He handed it to her who in return handed it to Felicity hoping that it would be something important._

_She started to throw some quick jabs on the bag before throwing some haymakers in a steady pace._

_-_

_Diggle was looking solemnly at the photo of himself, Andy and Carly at their wedding in his apartment. It seemed a lifetime ago when that photo was taken during their wedding ceremony and now that picture is a constant reminder of what he'd done. He killed his own brother in cold blood._

-

_-_

_Laurel quickened the pace as she started to throw punches at the bag, her mind wandering back to her father's last moments where he took the bullet for her._

_-_

_Felicity sat on her couch eating mint chip sadly at the loft. She's just been voted out of the board at Palmer tech which compounded all the bad things that happened to her in a spam of a few weeks._

_-_

_Laurel was beginning to hit the bag hard when she was thinking about the man who ruined the lives of her father and friends in the past year._

_-_

_Oliver Queen looked out to the ocean grimly thinking about taking the high road had resulted in the death of Quentin Lance. He tried to be better, tried to do the right way but in the end it hasn't gotten well. He's been in the gray area for too long to change. He realized it too late._

_-_

_Laurel was hitting the punching bag hard letting her anger out at the training area in Arrowcave wearing her work out clothing. All she could think about was how her father must've felt when he took that bullet meant for her. Did he felt regret of his part of getting in bed with Darhk? Did he regret shunning her mother and herself after The Gambit got shipwrecked? She didn't know and she was never going to find out._

_"What on earth did that bag do to you, Sis?"_

_She stopped suddenly, slowly turning to see her little sister standing next to where her Black Canary suit was stored. "Sara?"_

_"You're seriously gonna go through with this, are ya?" Sara stared at her as if it was the most absurd idea that she ever heard. "Killing Darhk? That's not the Laurel I once knew."_

_Realizing that Sara was just a figment of her imagination, Laurel returned to the punching bag ignoring her voice. "That was then, this is now. I'm not that naive girl who graduated from Law School anymore."_

_"Maybe so but the Laurel I know wouldn't resort to cold blooded murder. That's my specialty or was."_

_"Well, you haven't been here the last four months, so you're not in the position to judge!!" Laurel snapped, reminding the imagined Sara that she was with the Legends with Bucky. "Dad died! To save me. Andy, John's brother tipped Darhk off about the deal Dad made with the D.A.'s office and broke him out of jail. And I couldn't save him."_

_"So in an attempt to make up for not saving Daddy, you thought that "Hey if court can't convict him in court, why not kill him?" Sara said sarcastically. "That would solve a lot of problems except it doesn't."_

_Laurel scoffed as she continued to hit the punching bag. "You don't understand."_

_"Yes I do. I've been here." Sara said knowingly. "I know what killing does to you. It changes you. How it tears pieces of your soul until there's nothing left. You've been through enough tragedies to last a lifetime. If you kill Darhk, it's gonna push you over the edge."_

_"The only difference between me and you, Sara, is that you killed because you were trained to do." Laurel declared strongly. "Me? I want to kill because I have to, he's too dangerous to live. And trust me, once I find the bastard, he's a dead man."_

_-_

_"Laurel Lance." Laurel answered the phone a few minutes later, still breathing heavily, beads of sweat were dripping down her forehead onto the floor as she was taking a break._

_"Laurel, Lyla here." Lyla replied. "I know this isn't a good time to call you after your father's funeral but I think I got a possible lead on Darhk."_

_"How?" Laurel queried, taking a huge gulp of water from the water bottle._

_"A CIA contact informed me that a flight ticket to Barcelona was purchased online by Milo Armitage, a businessman who's alleged to be a high ranking member of HIVE. He's gonna board the plane set to leave Star City today." Lyla told her._

_"Where's he staying?" Laurel questioned, hoping that it would be the big breakthrough._

_"I'm texting you the address. If you can catch him before he boards the plane..."_

_"He might tell me what Darhk is up to now." Laurel finished realizing that she might have the chance of finding Darhk. "Thank you, Lyla."_

_"Hey, after what your father did to save you...It's the least I can do for you, Laurel. " Lyla told her sincerely before ending the call. Laurel got notified of a text message she got from Lyla. She read the message that contained the address of the hotel that Milo was staying at this moment of time._

_Hochman Hotel. Kanigher Street._

_"You're really going through this, are you?" Laurel sighed hearing the voice of her father standing behind her as she went to change into putting on her Black Canary suit. "Killing Damien Darhk? That's not how I raised you."_

_"If this is an attempt of trying to persuade me from not killing him, don't bother." Laurel said, not even sparing her father a glance. "Besides, I got an advantage. Darhk's rusty in terms of hand to hand combat from what Oliver told me so I need to hit him quick and hard before he even throws a punch. And he's not as young as he used to be."_

_"You're too mad to think straight just like I was four years ago when Queen came back." Quentin said, seeing some of his negative traits shown in his daughter. "Laurel... Please. It's not who you are. It's gonna get you killed."_

_"Should've thought of that when you shut me and Mom out when Sara went missing." Laurel retorted, putting on the black gloves before zipping her jacket up. "And when you got into bed with Darhk last year, so spare me the lecture." She left the batons still stored because she doesn't need them. Not when what's about to come. The main event._

_"Laurel. Please. Your mother didn't just leave you. She left me too."_

_"If you're trying to get some sympathy from me, forget it." Laurel said ignoring the ghost of her father as she put on her eye mask back in Arrowcave. He was starting to get on her nerves when he mentioned his ex wife who was her mother._

_"She left us because she knew that you and I were too much alike. Throwing ourselves at work, blaming others for the tragedies that we went through." Quentin said regretfully for what he did 10 years ago and reminding Laurel of her downward spiral after Tommy died in the Undertaking._

_"So it's my fault?" Laurel asked sarcastically._

_"Can you be honest with yourself for two seconds?" Quentin inquired. "You put on that mask because it makes you feel alright with who you really are. It let you hurt people and makes you feel that it's for something important. Something good."_

_The ghost of Quentin Lance faded away and was replaced with Damien Darhk. "Maybe even in the name of justice. But that's not the truth and we both know it." The taunting voice of Darhk made her blood boil when she heard it. "You and your father are cut from the same cloth. A cop who was going to stop at nothing to close a case and his daughter who is constantly trying to convince herself that she's better than her drunk father. You were born from nothing and you will remain nothing."_

_Roaring out in anger as she had enough of her father's murderer, Laurel went to punch the man repeatedly, beating him bloody to the point he was on his knees. She went behind him and snapped his neck with a cry._

_But that sweet death was just in her mind as she stared blankly at the mannequin, now wearing her full Black Canary suit before she headed to the exit of the Arrowcave to interrogate Milo Armitage._

_-_

**_Star City_ **

**_May 3 2016_ **

_Milo Armitage was scared. For a good reason. he had to book a plane out of Star City because Milo feared that if Darhk found about his plan to continue Operation Genesis without him with the rest of the Hive leaders, he was dead._

_So as he was about exit his hotel suite heading to the airport, he came to face to face with Black Canary with a hardened glare._

_"Hello, Mr. Armitage." Black Canary greeted, Milo gasped in horror before darkness consumed him._

_-_

_A dark bag was removed off Armitage's head and he found himself cuffed on a rooftop of a building in the Glades. Black Canary stood in front of him with a pissed off look._

_"Where is Damien Darhk?" Black Canary demanded. Milo scoffed despite the unfortunate situation he'd found himself in._

_"Why should I tell you? You don't frighten me like he does."_

_"True and it would be a real shame for some really valuable information to be wasted if you were to be caught, so talk." Black Canary replied not in the mood for any bravery or stall as she placing her hands on hips. "Now."_

_"What Damien will do to me is infinitely worse..." His spat was cut off by a jab to the jaw from the Canary of Star City, effectively shutting him up for now._

_"Things are about to get really bad for you, so i'll ask you again." Black Canary kneeled in front of him making him tremble slightly by the glare he was getting. "Where. Is. Damien Darhk?"_

_Realizing that he didn't have much of a choice, Milo relented. "He's preparing a party."_

_"For what?" Black Canary questioned._

_"To celebrate his wife's election victory at Star City Plaza. He's been planning it for months and then he'll initiate Operation Genesis soon after."_

_Black Canary was intrugied by this new information. The first part wasn't a surprise. After Oliver had dropped out, Ruvé picked up the victory as it was no one who posed a threat against her but the second part got her interest peaked. "What is Genesis?"_

  
_"It's a nuclear project. Darhk has a large amount of nuclear missiles he's gained over the years from numerous countries that he will launch and cleanse the world in blaze of fire. Then out of the ashes, Darhk will usher a new era with the people he deemed worthy. Think of it as a modern Noah's ark."_

  
_Black Canary was horrified by it even though she didn't show it on her face. A nuclear genocide on a large scale? It made her more determined to find him. "You're gonna tell me where is the celebration party being held at what level right now."  
_

_Milo Armitage shook his head feebly. "No. No. I told you enough."  
_

_Black Canary was unfazed by the lame attempt to keep himself from telling more. She wasn't gonna let him off that easily. "Was that a no?"_

_"I'm marked for death."_

_"That was a no." Black Canary grabbed him by the jacket ignoring the pleas and threw him off the rooftop. The corrupt business man screamed from the top of his lung as he was falling down only to be stopped by the rope wrapped on his ankle, preventing him from meeting a certain death. He was left hanging screaming like a girl while Black Canary took some humor in it._

_"Top floor near the presidential suite. But you won't be able to get in that easily. Darhk has every Ghost guarding at every corner at the Plaza like a fortress."_

_"But you know someone who can." Black Canary guessed. Milo nodded frantically, sweating like a hog._

_-_

**_The next Day_ **

**_The Bunker._ **

_Oliver and Thea were sparring with each other when Felicity ran up to them._

_"Guys, you're gonna have to see this. It's about Captain Lance." Felicity told them point blank. that was all they needed to hear as t_ _he Queens followed the former CEO of Palmer Tech to the computer set up._

_"What is it?"'_

  
_"Two days ago, Laurel got a call from Lt Pike about a cell phone he found in her father's apartment during a canvas search. Apparently he had a video recorded the day before he went to testify in Darhk's trial and... It'll be better if I just show you." She pressed play on the keyboard and out popped a screen of Quentin holding a cellphone as he was recording himself the day before his death._

**_"My name is Captain Quentin Lance of Star City Police and under the federal law I swear the testimony i'm about to give is the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. Consider this testimony my dying declaration. I'm guilty of multiple criminal acts and I wasn't acting alone. Damien Darhk coerced me and a number of fellow SCPD officers into aiding and abetting a criminal conspiracy to extort protection money from Federal banks."_ **

**_-_ **

**_"Gotta admit, you sure know how to put on a show Mr. Darhk."_ **

**_-_ **

**_"Officers Warner, Amell, Cassidy, Stan, Ramsey, Rickards and Holland all took part and continued to be Darhk's operatives under the orders of Mr. Darhk himself. There may be more, I can't be sure. But I personally witnessed Star City councilwoman Emily Pollard murder councilman Marc Guggenheim in her kitchen using my handgun."_ **

**_-_ **

_Quentin watched in horror as Pollard fired two bullets from his on duty firearm to kill Guggenheim in cold blood. "NO!"_

**_-_ **

**_"And then witnessed Darhk's wife Mayor Ruvé Adams bagging my gun as evidence and remove the body, using this crime in an threat against my family, to blackmail me into cooperating with her husband."_ **

_To say that they were shocked was a understatement. They knew that he was blackmailed but they didn't know about the leverage Darhk's had on him if he were to turn himself in._

**_"I'm not making any excuses because I aided and abetted the worst crime of them all."_ **

_Exchanging an uneasy look between the Queen siblings, Thea and Oliver continued to watch as Quentin was starting to get emotional near the end of the video._

**_"I personally drove a small group of Darhk's men to the Starling Tunnel after Oliver Queen exposed Damien Darhk to the public following the Starling Harbor Attack as the leader of the Ghosts. I knew at this point he was the one responsible for the attack on the City Council and I knew he was gonna plan something horrible, but I let it happen anyway. So I'm guilty in aiding and abetting the attempted murder of Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen. I'm ashamed of what I've done but that doesn't take away the fact that I and the people I just named are guilty as hell. Give this video to my daughter as fast as you can. Laurel, I'm sorry. For everything. But remember that I will always love you."_ **

_The video ended and the three were all shock, stunned, horrified, speechless of how deep Quentin was in bed with Damien Darhk._

_"Oh my god." Thea breathed out walking away from the computer screens, trying to process what she'd just learned along with Oliver and Felicity._

_"He knew he was gonna die." Felicity whispered from her chair, saddened of what happened to her mother's boyfriend. "Okay, so maybe it won't hold up in court. But if we put this out there, it'll make the Darhk's lives a living hell."_

_"Actually, a dying declaration is exempt from the hearsay rule." Oliver informed._

_"What?" Felicity and Thea asked in unison, trying to grasp what they just learned._

_Oliver may not be well versed in the law book as Laurel was but he did enough research to know the basics when he came back from the Island over three years ago. which meant that Quentin knew this._

_"The Court says that if a witness who believes that they're dying, that means they have less incentive to lie." He explained. "Therefore, anything they say is..."_

_"You're telling us this is admissible in court?" Felicity asked._

_"Every damn word." He said confirming it. "It's the silver bullet to take down Darhk's and HIVE."_

_"Oh my god. The world has to know about this." Thea stated._

_"The World_ **_and_ **_Laurel." Oliver declared._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayor Adams's mayoral party is interrupted which results in a very personal battle that will decide the fate of Star City.

**_The Glades._ **

**_"Get up! Go! I'm right behind you!"_ **

**_"Tommy! Tommy!!"_ **

_It felt like yesterday to her as Laurel was looking around the ruined building of her old workplace in the Glades wearing her Black Canary suit. When Tommy died saving her life in the Undertaking three years ago, almost to the date. She remembered when she got Joanna out of the building, a huge part of the ceiling caved in, coming down on her, trapping her. She remembered that she couldn't breathe let alone move underneath the rubble. She felt like she was about to die. Tommy came to rescue, somehow gaining enough strength to move the rubble so that she could escape. Unfortunately he couldn't get out of there in time as another part of the ceiling collapsed down on him and he died of his injuries. There had been days hours minutes where she thought back to that day. How she sometimes wished that it should've been her instead of Tommy. Which was why she came here, to see where it all began._

_If anyone told her that what she was about to do next was crazy, she would agree and back away but desperate times calls for desperate measures. She pressed the button on a burned cell phone and speed dialed the number she wanted to call. she waited for the caller to accept her call for a while before a gleeful voice answered._

_"Yello?"_

"Lonnie." She simply greeted to the psychopathic hitman coldly.

_**"Oh. Pretty Bird. To what do I own the pleasure of having you calling me?"** _

_She went straight to the point, not beating around the bushes. "Simple. I need you to do something for me."_

_" **Aaand what do I get in return?"**_

_"Chaos. As much as you'd like." She replied knowing it was the only way to get him on board._

_**"Ooh, now you're talking."** _

_"Damien Darhk is having a party tonight at the Plaza, to celebrate his wife's mayoral win." Laurel told him. "And I don't think he deserves a life of happily ever after."_

**_-_ **

**_Star City Plaza_ **

_"Do you have a invite?" A body guard asked a young man wearing a all red outfit at the entrance of the Plaza. "Because if you don't, then I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave."_

_"As a matter of fact, I do." The young man looked up revealing himself to be Anarky wearing his signature mask. Recognizing who he was, the guard stumbled backwards trying to call for backup._

_In an back alley not far from the Plaza, Laurel dressed in her Black Canary suit was waiting when she heard the sounds of punching and grunting through ear communicator. That was the signal, she thought as she left the alley in a hurry._

_-_

_The cheerful mood that was evident in the ballroom as the new mayor and her husband who was wearing a face mask_ _so that people wouldn't recognize him so easily_ _mingled with guests, talking about the future, was about turn sour when the guests received notifications on their cellphones indicating that a video was trending on social media thanks to Overwatch._

_**"My name is Captain Quentin Lance of Star City Police and under the federal law, the testimony i'm about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."** _

_"What is this?" Ruvé demanded seeing everyone was looking at her in shock and horror of learning that she was married to Damien Darhk as the video went on. Things were about to take a turn for the worse in a heartbeat._

-

_Black Canary was heading down the clear path inside the Plaza walking past fallen security guards that Anarky took care for her._

_"Agents down. I repeat, agents down. Black Canary and Anarky are en route to the ballroom." A guard reported as Black Canary ran up the stairs to the ballroom._

_-_

_"Sir, there's a problem. Agents are down." A Ghost operative in disguise as bodyguard informed the Darhks before alerting the others._

_"We're under attack." Damen murmured in realization._

_"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." Everyone turned to see Anarky on the stage holding a microphone in his hands. A guest dropped his glass in horror. "I would like to make a toast. Black Canary and I wishes the new Mayor the absolute best."_

_A sonic scream echoed through the ballroom, causing everyone to drop on their knees clutching their ears in pain except for Anarky who had ear protectors. Out came Black Canary from her spot staring at the Darhk's with fire in her eyes._

_Soon enough once the guests had recovered, they ran out of the ballroom in terror as the Darhk's escaped with the help of their bodyguards leaving some of their henchmen that were keeping the reluctant duo busy._

_Black Canary and her villainous ally for one night only Anarky dived under the bar for cover as some of Darhk's men fired at them. Black Canary saw a discarded gun that conveniently laid next to her. she picked it up rising out of her cover as she fired three shots, hitting the target. Three henchmen that were shot, fell down to the floor bleeding from their respective wounds on the shoulders. Those gun lessons she took from both her father and Bucky paid off._

_"My My. Didn't know you could fire a gun." Anarky said in awe. He can't think of nothing fine but a fine chick holding a gun._

_"There's a lot things you don't know about me." Black Canary answered cryptically as she unleashed her sonic scream again sending the rest of the henchmen backwards to the wall, back first. She turned to her temporary ally."Think you can keep em busy?"_

_"Ooh, I can do better than that, birdie."_

_"Good." Black Canary made a run for the door as Anarchy took out his kamas engaging the remaining henchmen. She went straight to where the Darhk's had fled._

_-_

_"How did this happen?" Damien demanded as he walked removing the face mask he wore into the upper floors._

_"Even the most perfectionist can make errors in their judgments."_

_Normally he would snap the neck in annoyance with dark magic but instead he opted for the next best thing. A gun. He took a gun and fired two rounds into the guard that made the snip remark. He died instantly. "Noted."_

_"That video of Captain Lance is a threat to us." Ruve hissed as she resumed her route of escape. "He's about to ruin everything we worked so hard to achieve."_

_"I should've never recruited him in the first place. He should'nt have been that close to us." Damien hissed, both regretfully and infuriated of his huge mistake._

_"Damien. Listen to me." Ruvé walked over to her husband to calm him down. "Be angry later, be smart now. We have to leave immediately."_

_-_   
_**SCPD** _

_"Alright, people. You have one job." Lt. Pike gave out his order to his men as they exited the precinct, heading to their police cars. He'd just finished watching Quentin's confession online so now he was gonna try to arrest one of them or both if he's lucky. "Arrest either Damien Darhk or Mayor Adams."_

-

_**Star City Plaza** _

_Black Canary burst through the security room making a short work of the bodyguards that were with Darhks with her fists while the control operator watched on in awe at how quickly she disposed of them._

_"Wow." He murmured._

_As much as she appreciated the compliment, it was not the time nor the place because the guests would've called the police by now. "The police are on their way to the plaza. Can you shut down the elevators?" She requested._

_"Why?" The operator inquired._

_"So nobody interferes." Black Canary replied. He did as he was told as she left the control room heading to cut off the Darhk's escape route._

-

**_"The helicopter will be at the rooftop in five minutes."_ **

_"We don't have five minutes." Ruvé hissed into her phone._

_"I agree, Mrs. Mayor." Ruvé gasped as she and Damien Darhk turned to see Black Canary standing in front of them._

_"It's over, Darhk." Black Canary declared, no point of using the voice modulator._

_She glanced at Adams with a look of contempt. "If I were you, I'd run."_

_The soon to be ex Mayor did just that._

_Darhk let out a manical laugh, making the Canary of Star City glare even more at him. "Well. If I'm going to Hell, Ms. Lance, I'm taking you with me."_

_"Save me a seat."_

_Black Canary and Darhk then gave out enraged roars before they charged at each other. Fight of the century was on._

_-_

_Darhk tackled Black Canary, both crashing through the door onto the floor of a hotel suite. He slammed her into the floor twice before punching her out of rage for Black Canary ruining his wife's celebration. Black Canary held her arms up to cover her face. She blocked the third punch with her forearm before slugging him sending him back. She got back up, landing a few blows to the stomach with her gloved fists before spin kicking him in the solar plexus knocking him down relying on her extensive combat training._

_Ticked off over the fact he was still rusty thanks to his prolonged reliance on dark magic, he still had the edge in experience as he got back up, parring a right hook and gave one of his own to Black Canary before kneeing her in the stomach throwing her aside. He tried to stomp her head in but Black Canary quickly recovered, rolling out of the way before kicking Darhk in the thigh as well as at his leg._

_"Impressive. But you're still no match for me, Ms. Lance." Darhk taunted, recuperating as Black Canary regained her footing. "I was one of Ra's four horsemen, remember?"_

_"Yeah. But I was trained by Ra's daughter, Oliver Queen and Lady Shiva, so I got you beat." Laurel retorted._

_This was't about who got the edge in training. This was about the fate of Star City and the World._

_The two resumed fighting, exchanging blows to each other, before Darhk threw a kick attended to hit Black Canary in the chest but she side stepped the kick evading it before hitting Darhk at the side with a blow. Darhk returned the favor by swinging a punch at Black Canary who ducked her head under the swinging hook before grabbing her arm and threw her off but Black Canary was up to it as she got a hold of his shoulder mid air, flipping him over her. A little trick she learned from Oliver._

_Frustrated over how the fight was going, Damien decided to take the gloves off as he got back up and blocked the punches Black Canary threw at his way before parring her leg as Black Canary tried to round house kick Darhk. It gave Darhk the opening he needed as he jabbed her in the nose, grabbing her by the jacket and tossed her through a nearby wooden table before punching her two times. He then started to choke her with his hands wrapped around her throat. She struggled trying to escape the tight hold as she felt she was slipping but he wasn't budging._

_"How fitting. I killed your father and now I get to kill you. Two birds with one stone." Darhk laughed, taking immense joy of her struggle. "Any last words before I send you home to daddy?"_

_"Yeah...I'm a little north of pissed off!" Black Canary croaked, using her father's quote before striking Darhk by using her both hands to slap both of his ears, dazing him. He stumbled away giving her the neccessary time to breathe as she got back up. She then pushed Darhk into a corner wailing on him with a series of punches to his torso before throwing her fist to Darhk who evaded the incoming punch as it struck the wall._

_Black Canary shrieked in surprise, shaking her hand off the pain she felt before choking on the chop to her throat she got from Darhk who took advantage of it before landing a few powerful blows to her body, causing her to be dazed. He kicked her in the chest, knocking her down once more._

_"You're out of your league, Ms. Lance. You can't beat me." Darhk sneered, smirking as he approached Black Canary who was trying to get up. He pulled out a gun, the same gun that killed Quentin Lance and she was about to meet the same end._

_Black Canary chuckled as she spit out some blood off her mouth, surprising him a bit. "No. I'm not, because I have an ace up my sleeve." In a last ditch effort, she let out her sonic scream blasting Darhk away as he crashed through some furnitures._

_Black Canary walked over to where Darhk was and used her boxing training she got from Ted Grant to land some heavy duty punches , proceeding to beat a very disoriented Darhk into a pulp with her gloved fists repeatedly letting out her pent up rage._

_Punch! "This is for Oliver!" She declared. Punch! "This is for John!" Punch, punch! And by that point, Damien's nose was broken, blood trickling down the nasals. He was down on both of his knees as Black Canaey kept walling on him with blood Stained fists."This is for William and Felicity!"_

_Once she was done, she grabbed his head with both of her hands going in for the kill. "And this... Is for my dad."_

_But as she was about to twist his head to the side, she hesitated for a split second. Was she really going to do it? Kill Darhk as she said she would and lose herself in the process? Robbing Darhk's daughter of a father like he robbed her off her own?_

_Then Black Canary let out a cry of sorrow, stepping away from a bloodied Damien Darhk as she crumbled to her knees. She couldn't do it, despite everything what that man did to her and her father. She couldn't kill him because it would undo the sacrifice her father had made to put Darhk behind the bars._

_"I'll never stop going after Oliver Queen or John Diggle." Damien told her of his intentions if he were to be arrested again weakly. "I will tell the world who you really are."_

_"You... You want me to kill you." Black Canary said, pointing her finger at him as she realized what he was attempting to do._

_"You know no prison will hold me. Not even ARGUS. You know that. " Darhk tried to goad Black Canary into killing him but Black Canary didn't grant him that wish. "Come on, kill me!!!"_

_"NO!!!!" Black Canary roared, finally heard enough of Damien. "God knows I want to with every fiber of my being, but you will not destroy who I am, like you destroyed my father! You will go straight to prison, and you will live out the rest of your miserable life in a cage, knowing you'll never have either Nora or Ruvé, that this city rejected you. It beat you! **I** beat you!!!" She declared herself and her city as the victors over the Darhks._

_She took off her mask and stared into his eyes with pure hatred. "You keep my secret and you won't harm Oliver Queen or John Diggle or anyone else because if you do, I will go after your daughter and I'll make sure that Nora will spend her teenage years bouncing from foster home to foster home and like her parents, she'll spend her entire life in a cell." Laurel promised hoarsely, to Damien shock and horror._

_Seeing that she had him right where she wanted her to, Black Canary put the mask back on as she backed away from Damien while Ruvé who for some reason decided to not leave her husband behind appeared in the suite._

_"I'm sorry, Ruvé. I failed you." Damien apologized profusely as his wife went over to him. "Everything I did, was for you and Nora. To secure our future."_

_"Don't be." Ruvé assured him. "But right now you need to secure our daughter's for both of our sakes." Realizing that she was right, Damien turned his head to Black Canary._   
  
_"If I agree to your demands, you'll leave our daughter alone?" Damien inquired. "You'll leave Nora free."_

_Black Canary walked over to them with a blank look. "If you keep your word." She said leaving them with no other option as she extended her gloved hand for_ _a handshake._

_Damien took her hand and shook it begrudgingly. The deal has been made. "Then you got yourself a deal."_

_Then Lieutenant Pike stormed through the entrance doors with a small army of police officers having managed to break through the elevators as Black Canary started to walk away from them._

_"Damien Darhk. Mayor Adams. You're under arrest." Pike said while acknowledging the vigilante with a glance._ _The officers went behind the Darhk's, putting their hands behind their backs in handcuffs as Black Canary walked past the Lieutenant._

_"Wasn't that Black Canary?" Officer Walters asked seeing the blonde vigilante in surprise._

_"Yeah." Pike replied._

_"Wasn't she responsible for the attack on Adams after she got elected?" Officer Perry inquired._

_SCPD veteran shook his head no, he'd been around long enough to know the difference between the real and the fake. "That wasn't the real Black Canary."_

_"How do you know?" Officer Walters questioned her commanding officer._

_"Because **she** is." Pike stated, gesturing to the retreating figure of Black Canary leaving the penthouse suite._

_-_

_Green Arrow, Spartan and Speedy watched from a far standing on the rooftop of a nearby building seeing what was happening before their very eyes to their awe._

_The Press was having a field day as the clock struck midnight, taking pictures of the disgraced Mayor Adams and a bloodied Damien Darhk being led out by the police and put in the backseat of a police_ _car in handcuffs._

 _"Can we at least have a moment to say goodbye to our daughter?" Damien requested as Pike_ _took the driver's seat not bothering to look over his shoulder._

_"Did you give one to Quentin Lance?" Pike retorted coldly to Damien who fell silent as they drove off and headed to SCPD Lockup._

_"Laurel should be here." Spartan said._

_"I'm pretty sure she is." Green Arrow replied._

_-_

_Black Canary was standing tall on an apartment building not far from the Plaza. She and her allies have taken down the Darhk's though it came at a terrible price._

_"We did it, daddy." She murmured as a tear went down her cheek in solace._

**AN: Comment, kudos and Bookmark for more chapters.**


	5. Chapter 5

**May 20 2016**

**The Bunker, Star City**.

_It's been two hours since Damien Darhk and his wife were arrested following the shocking video of Quentin's dying declaration that was posted on Social media and yet it felt like they lost than won. They have been emotionally affected by the war against Darhk, some more than others._

_Oliver, Diggle, Felicity and Thea were gathered around the table pondering about where do they go next. Laurel still hadn't returned. "You ok?" Oliver asked Diggle._

_Diggle shook his head slowly. He wasn't, not by a mile. "Not really. I told Lyla the truth about Andy."_

_Oliver wasn't surprised. He would've done it sooner or later because the guilt was eating him alive. "How did she take it?" He inquired wondering how the ARGUS director reacted._

_"She's a soldier. She understood." Diggle replied. "But I don't and I don't think I ever will."_

_"What are you gonna do?"_

_Diggle sighed. "Take some time away from this team. Away from this city. Figuring it out where I went off track and how to get back on."_

_"John I've never done this without you. You always kept me in line." Oliver admitted._

_Diggle chuckled, smiling faintly. "Oliver I don't know if you've been watching lately but it's the other way around, man."_

_Respecting his wishes, Oliver shook Diggle's hand firmly and then Diggle left the bunker but not before Felicity hugged him tightly, whispering 'be careful' to his ear._

_"I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news but I'm leaving too." Felicity announced her departure much to the Queens' shock._

_"You are?" Thea said, surprised._

_Felicity nodded, getting up from her seat. "I'm heading back to Vegas tomorrow with Mom. After everything with Darhk, my paralysis, the break up, Quentin's death and losing my position as the CEO of Palmer Tech. I... need some time to think about where did I go wrong and how do I recover. I just can't do it here in Star City."_

_Oliver nodded in understanding as he hugged her, harboring no ill will towards her. "Well, when you do decide to come back, remember, you'll always have a place here on this team." He reassured his ex fiancee._

_"Thank you, Oliver. And I'm sorry for how I reacted when I found out about William. By the way the loft is yours." Felicity told him as she too left the bunker. Then it were two._

-

_**A day after the Darhk's public arrest** _

_A Ghost was running as fast as he could from ARGUS agents that had broken into one of many Hive's underground lairs but he was intercepted by their colleagues that tackled him down to the ground from the side._

-

_**Star City** _

_**SCPD** _

_One of the Officers was dragged out of the SCPD precinct along with his colleagues that were on Darhk's payroll while his former co-workers looked at her in disgust, ashamed that she wore the same badge as they did._

_Lt. Pike watched from a distance, thinking about how one man can make a difference although it came at a huge cost._

-

_**A day after the Darhk's public arrest.** _

_**Star City** _

_**City Hall.** _

_Argus Agents burst through the office of council woman Emily Pollard walking past her employees straight into her office and dragged her out as they slapped the handcuffs on her wrists. During the time she was arrested, Emily Pollard had a look of resignation, realizing that the truth had come out in the open._

-

_Pheadra Nixon, another high ranking member of Hive's inner circle was pulling up on the driveway of her mansion when suddenly she was surrounded by an army of FBI agents, catching her off guard._

-

_**May 27 2016** _

_**A week after the Darhk's arrest.** _

**_SCPD, Star City_** **_._ **

_Laurel entered the interrogation room seeing a dejected Emily Pollard sitting across the table._

_"You went to college with Mayor Adams." Laurel began summarizing what she had learned from watching her interrogation videos and her father's video. "In fact you were her roommate so when your husband's company went out of business eight years ago due to the financial crisis, she was the first one to call."_

_"Laurel, let me explain."_

_"Explain how your loan debts was suddenly paid off directly via a shell corporation or how all the evidence in Councilman Guggenheim's disappearance conveniently pointed toward my dad?" Laurel retorted not wanting to listen any excuse that the former councilwoman had. "You found out that my Dad was about to admit his cooperation with Darhk and it all came together."_

_-_

_**July 21 2015.** _

**_Emily had a guilty look on her face when she was tasked with framing Quentin for murder. But what other choice did she have? If she doesn't do this, her son could get expelled for cheating on his midterms despite her history with Adams._ **

**_"You know what to do." Ruvé said sitting next to her in the limo._ **

-

_**After hearing Quentin's confession, she put on white gloves so that she wouldn't leave any fingerprints. She went to get his gun from the drawer in the kitchen and headed to the dining room.** _

_**Quentin who was confused to why Emily had his gun, saw her firing two shot into Guggenheims chest, leaving him stunned by the councilwoman's action. "No!"** _

**-**

**May 25 2016.**

_"You bagged my dad's gun that had his fingerprints on it and then Adams men took Guggenheim's body dumping it in a ditch like yesterday's trash." Laurel finished the recap. "My father trusted you. How could do you that to him?"_

_Emily looked at her as if she was stupid for not knowing the reason why. "Don't you get it? It's just not about me. It's the vigilantes... They're symptoms of a cancer that plagues this city. Destroying everything they touch."_

_Laurel stared at her incredulously. "The vigilantes didn't kill anyone. The vigilantes didn't frame my dad." She pointed out the flaw in her argument as Emily started to shed tears of remorse. Laurel sighed, hating Darhk's even more now._

-

**May 26 2016**

_Damien Darhk and his wife's arrest seemed to have a profound effect, it unraveled Hive's entire network a week later. ARGUS along with Interpol and the FBI arrested the Hive Heads across the globe including a number of corrupt SCPD officers and politicians that were on Darhk's payroll, including a Star City Council member Emily Pollard for the murder of Marc Guggenheim. All thanks to Ruvè Adams who upon her arrest almost immediately turned to State witness and corroborated with Quentin's dying declaration._

_But that did little to please Laurel as she was standing in front of her father's tombstone wearing sunglasses and make up to cover the bruises she gained from her brutal fight with Damien Darhk at Star City Plaza. It was a quiet afternoon in Star City._

_"Wanna say few words, Lyla?" Laurel inquired Lyla as the ARGUS director came by Quentin's grave following the arrests of Hive members all over the globe. . "I don't have any at the moment."_

_"God rest his soul. That should be enough." Lyla said simply._

_"You know for his last birthday, I bought him a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. He used to make it when I celebrated my birthdays." Laurel recalled fondly then sighed grievously. "I wanted Darhk dead."_

_"Was it worth it?" Lyla questioned Laurel decision of sparing her Father's murderer. She wasn't judging, just curious. "Sparing Darhk's life_ _?"_

_"I've been thinking about that for the past week alone." Laurel replied. "I saw what taking a life does to people. Oliver. Sara, Bucky and my Dad. I saw the dull look in their eyes showing how much it takes a toll on them. So... yes it was worth it and not with it the end. But at least I kept my morality in check."_

Lyla nodded. "Come on. It's time." She urged Laurel to follow her into the church as the service was about to take place.

-

_Wow. Seems like half of Star City is here to say goodbye to my father Captain Quentin Lance, which is bit of a surprise." Laurel noted, standing in front of the peers that were in attendance for a memorial service held in honor of Captain Lance and his service to Star City. Oliver, Lyla and Thea were among the attendance sitting at the front row._

_"Feels like yesterday when I was 8 years old, I walked up to Dad and told him that I wanted to become a police officer like himself." Laurel recalled one of her childhood memories with a fond smile. "His reaction was like 'Over my dead body will I ever let my little girl join the force.'" She imitated her father's gruff voice to perfection._

_Everyone chuckled at that._

_"Quentin Larry Lance was a lot of things: He was a husband, father and most importantly he was an officer of the Law. He used to preach to me that you don't have to go outside the law to find justice but there have been moments where he was forced to bend the rules for the good of this city_ _." Laurel continued. "Even in his last moments, he was more than willing to sacrifice his life to protect others. To protect his community whether you are from his neighborhood or not. That's really anyone could ask "_

_Laurel took a moment to regain herself as she was at the end of her speech. "And that is his legacy: He was a protector and it is up to us now to live up to it."_

-

_"That was a wonderful speech." DA Remz complimented Laurel as the guests took it to the dinning hall of St Michaels, while talking about fond memories of their encounters with the late Captain Lance over the years. It was a joyful mood. "Very heartfelt."_

_"Thank you, Remz." Laurel said feeling somewhat grateful as she took a sip from her glass of water. "I appreciate the compliment."_

_"So I guess you heard, the soon to be ex Mayor Adams and councilwoman Pollard flipped. They both corroborated with your father's dying declaration." Remz said._

_"I did hear." Laurel replied. She'd heard it from Pike four days after the Darhk's and Emily Pollard were arrested a day apart which was music to her ears. "So, SCPD and City Hall are getting enemas. Darhk's are looking at life in prison. What happens next?"_

_"Well. What happens next is that you'll be the first person to know that before the ordeal with Adams and Darhk, I'm gonna announce my retirement from my position as this City's District attorney this fall and I want you to be my successor." Remz told her._

  
_Laurel's eyes went wide as saucers upon hearing it while almost choking on water. "Now I know it may come as a surprise but the way you handled Damien Darhk's trial was really impressive. You don't have to answer right away, just... think about it. You could do a lot good for this city." Remz went to take a drink whilst Laurel needed a moment or two to process the offer she was given to. She was gonna have to make a big decision._

_-_

_**26 May 2016** _

**_Bunker._ **

_Laurel stared at her case containing her Black Canary suit back in the bunker contemplating about whether she should accept the offer of becoming Remz's successor. It was eerily quiet. Too quiet._

_On one hand the offer was everything she worked hard for since graduating from Law School but on other hand it put some serious doubts in her mind about her other line of work. Can she continue doing what's doing without resorting to killing? She meant what she said to Lyla after Darhk's downfall. It was both worth it and not worth it in the end. Worth it because she chose justice over revenge and not worth it because there could be someone worse out that Laurel might encounter in the near future and she may not have the same choice like she had with Damien Darhk which left her at a crossroads._

_She sighed as she walked away from the case with more doubts than ever._

_-_

**Star City**

**May 29 2016.**

The Waverider came out of the temporal zone and descended rapidly down to the ground before slowing down for a landing. Once it made its landing, the Legends stepped out of the ship with Rip following them.

"What are we doing back here?" Mick demanded.

"Savage has a timeship, courtesy of the Time Masters." Rip told him. "The timeline is unclear, due to our destruction of the Oculus, meaning..." 

"Savage is lost to history." Stein finished the thought.

Rip nodded. "Which is why I brought you all home."

"Mission's not over, man." Jax declared.

"Jax is right. We've lost Savage before. We'll find him again." Ray added.

Rip knew but he was going to do it by himself. The team did enough. "And then what?" Rip pointed out. "We have no way of killing Savage, particularly now that Kendra and Carter are in his possession, assuming that they're still alive, which is highly unlikely."

"So that's it? We're... we're just giving up?"

"I'm on my way to the refuge to retrieve our younger selves and return them to the timeline. It will be as if you never left." Rip said.

"What, you think that we can just return to our old lives, and then pretend like none of this ever happened?" Sara inquired.

"Which is highly unlikely." Bucky retorted using some of Rip's words to counter argue.

Rip looked a little sheepishly. "Mm, that might be a tad difficult. So I had to bring you back to May 2016, not January 2016."

Jax's face fell. Five months? Seriously? "Great, so what you're saying is for the last five months, my mom probably thinks that I'm dead. Thanks a lot, man." 

"What's with the change of heart, Rip?" Bucky asked the former time master who didn't answer the question.

"If you're getting back on that ship, we get back on that ship." Mick snarled pointing his finger but to their surprise, Mick's finger went through Rip causing some glitch. In that moment they understood that they were talking to a hologram.

"In truth, I never left it." Rip confessed as they looked over to see the Waverider ascending to mid air. 

"I'm sorry for all that I've asked of you, and that it all came to nothing. I wish you all well." Rip expressed. The transmission ended soon after the Waverider took off heading back to the temporal zone, leaving the group stumped.

"I never liked that guy." Mick growled.

"Yeah, well. Feeling's mutual." Bucky muttered in agreement.

-

Realizing that there was nothing left to do, the team had gone their separate ways. Sara and Bucky went to Laurel's apartment but she wasn't there so they went to the bunker after Sara tried to call others on the phone but they didn't answer.

"Hello? Hello?" Sara called out as they entered the bunker via the elevator seeing Thea by the monitors."Thea."

Thea turned around and saw them. "Hey guys." Thea said surprised by the two's reappearance in five months. "When did you get back?"

"Just over a hour ago." Bucky told her. "We were at Laurel's apartment but we couldn't find her. Sara tried to call others but they didn't answer. Do you know where she is?"

"She's... occupied at the moment." Thea said vaguely. "She's recuperating. Darhk had been causing a lot of problems while you were gone but he's behind bars now."

"Glad to know that some things hadn't changed in five months." Sara muttered. Thea tensed slightly. Some things did change and not for the better. Sara noticed the tension. "What's wrong?" 

Thea sighed looking down. She wished that her big brother was here. He was a lot better at this. "Guys, this is not easy for me to explain this but..." The former owner of Verdant scratched the back of his head trying to explain her summary of the events that transpired during their absences which formed pits of dread in their stomachs as Thea addressed Sara. "Sara, a few months ago, Darhk kidnapped Laurel and your dad. He, uh, had a gun aimed at her and your dad jumped in front of her as Darhk pulled the trigger and...."

She didn't finish because she couldn't bring herself to say it but she didn't have to because Sara knew. Her father took the bullet that was meant for Laurel and died, giving up his life to save Laurel's. "No. No, no." Sara denied, shaking her head in dismay. "H-H-He c-c-can't be."

"I am so sorry, Sara." Thea expressed her condolences sincerely as she hugged Sara in comfort letting her cry into her shoulder. Bucky covered his mouth with his hand in disbelief, not believing what he just heard.


	6. Chapter 6

Laurel entered the bunker after getting a call from Thea that both her sister and boyfriend were back in Star City and they were at the bunker. Once she got there saw Sara crying. Heart breaking over her sister's sob, She ran towards her sister and hugged Sara tightly. Bucky and stepped away from allowing the sisters to grieve for the loss of their father.

"I'm so sorry, Sara." Laurel whispered, voice cracking in despair.

"For what?" Sara asked why her sister was sorry for.

"I couldn't save him." Laurel murmured.

Sara shook her head no. "Don't. This was not your fault. That was Darhk, not you."

Laurel sniffled, nodding before seeing Bucky. "Bucky." She murmured quietly, hugging him .

"I'm sorry, Doll." Bucky whispered, kissing the top of her head. Laurel sobbed once more into his shoulder.

-

After consoling both Laurel and Sara, Bucky got a call from Ray telling him that he and Stein had figured out a way to contact the Waverider. Once the call had ended after Ray giving him the address of where they were gonna meet up, Bucky went to relay the message to Sara who was more than happy to rejoined. It was good Bucky thought, because the mission was far from being complete.

Once they got there, meeting up with others, both Bucky and Sara had to wait a little as Ray and Stein used a device to contact the Waverider. Sara was a bit impatient. Bucky could tell as he kept an eye on her the whole time.

It took a while but soon enough they all heard the familiar roar as they saw the timeship landing on the floor. Rip walked out of the ship and went to meet up with them.

"I thought I made my intentions perfectly clear." Rip said making it clear that he was not too pleased.

"And we wish to be clear about ours." Stein piped. Mick pushed Rip slightly.

"Do you mind?" Rip said puzzled.

"Just making sure if you're real this time." Mick justified the reason of what he just did.

"Rip, you may try to ditch us but there's no way in hell we're gonna let you do that." Bucky said. "This mission is not over. I'm pretty sure you hadn't been lucky of finding Savage since you left."

"No. I have not." Rip admitted begrudgingly. "But I haven't gotten into barroom fights in 1975 and the old west, put Star Dwarf technology into the hands of terrorists or got myself turned into a scary bird monster or aiding Savage to conquer the world with an army of super soldiers from ARGUS."

Bucky frowned darkly at the reminder of the other Winter Soldiers That was low, even for him.

"We get your point." Mick snapped getting to Rip's face. "Now get ours. That ship is not gona taking off without us. You got that?"

-

**Waverider**

"Well, despite my wishes to pursue Savage alone, it seems that you're all intent on seeing this thing through till the bitter..."

Sara didn't let Rip finish his typical rant as she punched him and pressed him against the wall with a knife pressed to his throat in the main bridge.

Mick whistled at the aggressiveness shown by Sara while Bucky winced. "Speaking of bitter."

"You knew." Sara accused him harshly. "You dropped us off five months later because you knew."

"Sara." Bucky warned her quietly. But Sara ignored him. She couldn't care about controlling herself.

"Knew what?" Jax inquried confused.

"You knew my Dad was going to die!" Sara snarled. The team excluding Bucky suddenly understood why she was angry. Very angry. "And now you're going to take me back and I'm going to kill Damien Darhk before that happens!"

Rip tried to make the former League member see reason. "Sara I'm afraid..."

"You should be." Sara cut him off.

"I can't allow you too...."

"I don't care about the damn timeline!" Sara shouted, tears were starting to build in her eyes. "You're taking me back now!"

Ray attempted to diffuse the situation that had escalated rather quickly. "Look, Sara, I'm sure there's a valid reason why Rip didn't..."

"Stay out of this!" Sara bellowed looking at Ray who gulped seeing the terrifying look on her face. It was a look of a pissed off lion. That gave Rip an window of opportunity as he used his device to blind Sara, making her go to sleep. Bucky rushed over and caught her before she could fall.

"James, would you be kind enough to put Sara back in her quarter please?" Rip asked Bucky.

"You better have a damn good explanation for this, Rip." Bucky warned glaring at Rip before carrying Sara's unconscious body back to her room.

-

There were a lot of things he dreaded when he was a Time Master and this was one of them. Yes, he did know about Quentin's death and when she confronted him demanding, her reaction was what he expected. He hoped that she was calm enough so that he could explain why.

"Please try very hard not to kill me." Rip said as he stepped into her quarter, seeing Sara being distraught while Bucky did his best to ease her pain.

"Please I... I need to... save my father." She begged to Captain, choking on her tears.

Rip sighed in dejection. Unfortunately he can not do that. It's beyond his control. "I'm afraid that is not possible, Sara." Rip confessed solemnly.

"Why the hell not?!" Bucky demanded storming towards Hunter in anger. "We spent the last five months, trying to save your wife and son. Why you can't do this one favor she asked of you!"

"James. I genuinely wish that I could help but we can not change something was already set in motion by forces far more powerful than us." Rip admitted. Both Bucky and Sara was confused by that.

"What?"

Rip looked at Sara with intent. "When your sister used the Lazarus Pit to bring you back to life, she was playing Russian Roulette with the balance between life and death. Therefore a price must be paid in order to maintain that very fragile balance: For every life gained, there must lives lost." Rip told Sara who paled at the implication.

"Are you saying that..."

"Your father was that price." Rip said. Sara whimpered in devastation.

"Even if you could save your father, you will still lose someone close to you. I am truly sorry but I can not help you." The former Time Master told her remorsefully before leaving the quarter quietly as Sara unable to accept the reality, sunk to her knees with Bucky holding her in comfort.

"It's not fair! It's not fair!!" Sara sobbed, crying into his chest while beating it weakly. "Daddy's gone!"

"I know." Bucky whispered.

-

**May 29 2016**

"I'm glad you came Buck. I really am." Laurel muttered sighing in content, they were taking a stroll on the city streets, the citizens were still recovering from Darhk's while Bucky had just returned from stopping Vandal Savage from destroying time.

"Anything for you, Doll." Bucky reassured, giving her a peck on the lips. Laurel returned the favor with a peck of her own. They fell into a comfortable silence as they headed into the direction of the Arrowcave.

"Who left Star City after Darhk was brought into custody?" Bucky asked, wanting to know who's left in the city of the stars.

"John, Felicity." Laurel replied, John went to reenlist himself back into the army while still feeling guilty about killing his brother in cold blood. Felicity took the first flight back home to Las Vegas still dealing with the aftermath of her failed relationship with Oliver and losing her position as the CEO of Palmer Technology.

"Thea?"

"Says she's retired."

"You?" Bucky questioned. Laurel were slient, thinking about her answer.

-

**May 26 2016**

_The first thing Oliver saw when he entered the bunker was Laurel sitting at the computer with her arms crossed staring blankly into the computer screens. It's been a week since the Darhk's were arrested and Hive fell like dominos in the aftermath but it felt less a victory and more of a loss because Team Arrow was broken. John reenlisted into the military following the death of his brother Andy, he told Oliver that he needed to figure out what went wrong and how . It wasn't just him that left Star City. Felicity also left following the breakup and losing her position as the CEO of Palmer Industries. It was too much for her to take so she took the first flight back home to Vegas with her mother but not without leaving the loft they shared and an apology to him._ _So again it was more a loss than a victory._

_"I wanted to kill him." Laurel confessed and Oliver fell silent, curious of where she was going with this. "I wanted to kill Darhk so bad, for everything he's done to me, Dad. Everyone." her body shook somewhat in anger at the mention of the man who killed her father in front of her own eyes._

_"But you didn't." Oliver pointed out. Laurel sighed, looking up to the ceiling as she calmed herself down._

_"I couldn't." Laurel replied. "I couldn't because It would undo everything that Dad had done to put Darhk behind bars."_

_"What brought this on?" Oliver asked, noting that something else was bothering her aside from what happened last week. The ADA shifted in the chair_ _slightly before telling him the reason._

_"Remz wants me to be his successor and he expects an answer from me before his retirement this fall." Laurel told him. "Which put the future of my other line of work into question."_

_Everything made sense in the former playboy's head now of why she was saying this. She was unsure of whether she should continue to be Black Canary without crossing the line which nearly happened last week and she was afraid that the next criminal that she could come across may not give her the same choice that she had with the imprisoned leader of the Hive. "All I can say to you is do what you feel is right for you." He advised._

_She laughed sarcastically. Well, that was not her one of her strengths, that's for sure. She can be like her father in her decision making, more than she liked to admit._ _"Yeah, that is something that I haven't done well in the last few years."_

 _Oliver didn't disagree with her. "Sometimes making bad decision can potentially lead to make a good one._ "

XXXX

**May 29**

**Bunker**

**Present time**

"Have you decided whether you should continue to be Black Canary, Doll?" Bucky asked his girlfriend who seemed to have made up her mind the moment she stepped inside the bunker. 

Laurel nodded, glancing at the case that contained her suit but without the mask which was in her hand. She had thought long and hard since she became the new District Attorney. "I have. When I became Black Canary, it used to make me feel alive and close to Sara but after Dad died... It's now a reminder of the line that I nearly crossed and what I lost." She placed the mask on the mannequins nose with resignation. "Black Canary is officially retired."

-

Sara placed of flowers near her father's grave while staring at the tombstone. Her father was dead and there was nothing she or anyone else could do about it. She just had to sit there and take it. Laurel and Bucky walked up to her.

"I should've stayed here. Help you with Darhk but I didn't." Sara confessed. "And now Dad's gone. I never got to say goodbye."

Laurel looked away in guilt for a moment. This was her fault. Their father was dead because of her before. She recomposed herself.

"So what you're gonna do?" Laurel wondered thinking about the offer that her boyfriend and her sister told. "From what I've heard from both you and Bucky, it sounded pretty important."

It was. To both her and Bucky. "So is family." Sara said. Family first, hero second. That was her priorities. Laurel let out a shakily breath holding back the tears. "I didn't wanna go with Rip the first time five months ago but you convinced me. And now I'm doing this for Dad because that's what I think he would've wanted."

Laurel nodded, pleased to see her sister's maturity. She had come a long way for sure when they reunited after Sara's six year absence. "I think Dad would've been proud of you."

"Why?" Sara inquired.

"Because I am." Laurel admitted as she went to hug her sister. Sara reciprocated the hug, the Lance sisters shared an emotional moment.

"So, Buck you ready to follow the League of Assassins graduate of '09 to protect history?" Sara asked the ex Army ranger separating herself from her older sister.

Bucky shook his head no. "No. The girl who couldn't keep herself out of trouble: That's who I'm following."

-

 **Star City Airport**.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bucky asked Laurel as they walked to the check in at the airport. She booked a one way ticket to a place that she went two years ago where she trained herself to be vigilante but now after hanging up her boots as the Black Canary, she was going travel back there for a different reason.

She is. Laurel just wanted some time off and she can't do it in this city because she was afraid that she might suffer relapse. "Yes. I need some time away from all this. You know what grief makes me do weird things. I became an alcoholic after Tommy died in the Undertaking. I nearly killed Darhk after he murdered Dad. I need to process this without any...." Laurel sighed remorsefully. "Just keep an eye on Sara for me, would you? Please?"

Bucky nodded. "You got it." And with that promise made Bucky left the airport, but not before kissing her on the lips. Laurel looked at him leaving before turning around to face the receptionist.

"Keep it open ended." Laurel told the receptionist her request at the check in.

"What's your destination?" The receptionist asked.

"Anywhere." Laurel replied.

-

As Legends were set to board the Waverider after seeing Kendra and Carter leave the team to start anew after Savage, they heard footsteps behind them. They were surprised to see Sara and Bucky approaching them.

"I wasn't sure you two would come." Rip admitted.

Bucky shrugged. "We gotta move forward."

-

Laurel looked out the window from her seat as the plane she boarded, took off ascending into the sky from the airport. A tear escaped her eye and dropped into the carpet. She didn't wanna do this but she had to do. It was necessary.

**AN: One more chapter left and then it's over.**


	7. Epilogue

**_May 28 2016_ **

**_Star City_ **

_D.A Remz was sorting the papers out that was in front of him at his desk in the D.A's. Office when Laurel entered. he looked up to her calmly._

_"I take it you have made a decision?" Remz guessed and Laurel nodded._

_"You're looking at the new District Attorney of Star City."_

**_-_ **

**_Six months later_ **

**ARGUS Blacksite Prison, Louisiana.**

It's been six months. Six long months since his imprisonment and she didn't have the opportunity to face him due to many reasons but now she had the chance to do so.   
Laurel was looking at Damien Darhk in his orange jumpsuit, glaring into the grey wall of his cell. He looked like a shell of the formidable adversary he once was.

"I let you live." Laurel stated. "And this is where you tell me I didn't have conviction to finish you off, but you're wrong. I had the _strength_ to spare you."

Darhk continued staring into the wall not bothering to even glance at Laurel. "And now comes the part when you start trying to rile me up making degrading remarks about my father and myself so I can get angry but either way... _I let you live_. You'll spend the rest of your days rotting in this hellhole knowing that Hive has crumbled into ashes, your daughter is away from your poisonous influence and therefore you have no one else to save your ass."

Having said what she came to say, Laurel began to walk away from Darhk.

"When I get out of here and I will, I'll finish what I've started with you." Damien threatened, making the Star City D.A pause.

She wasn't surprised by the threat. In fact, she's counting on it. "I know. And I'll be waiting." Laurel replied as she resumed her walking, exiting Darhk's cell.

**AN: That's it. Hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget comment, kudos and bookmark this story.**


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